Ohio legislators today reintroduced a bill that would ban abortions in the state as early as six weeks after conception, even as questions remain about the proposal’s constitutionality.
The bill has been dubbed the “heartbeat bill” because it prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.
In the past, some of Ohio’s anti-abortion groups, including Ohio Right to Life, raised concerns about the heartbeat bill because they said it could lead to legal challenges that would endanger the anti-abortion movement.
So far, Ohio Right to Life’s concerns might be proving true in North Dakota. A federal judge on July 22 blocked a similar law in that state after deeming it unconstitutional.
“The United States Supreme Court has unequivocally said that no state may deprive a woman of the choice to terminate her pregnancy at a point prior to viability,” wrote U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland, who was appointed to the District of North Dakota seat by former President George W. Bush in 2002.
Health experts generally agree viability is not reached until 24 weeks into the pregnancy.
When contacted earlier today, Ohio Right to Life said it’s not providing comment on the bill yet.
Abortion-rights advocates are already standing against the proposal, which they call “the heartless bill” and an attack on women’s rights.
“Here we go again,” says Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio. “A month after Gov. Kasich signed one of the worst anti-choice bills in the nation that is already closing abortion facilities, you’ve got this group coming back and saying, ‘No, no, no, that’s not good enough. You have to outlaw abortion before women even know they’re pregnant.’ ”
Forty of 99 legislators in the Ohio House have signed onto the bill, according to
The Associated Press
. The Ohio Senate majority caucus and Gov. John Kasich have so far declined to comment on the bill when asked by various reporters.In June, the Republican-controlled General Assembly and Kasich passed
a two-year state budget
that imposes regulatory hurdles that make it more difficult to get an abortion in Ohio and have already forced various abortion clinics to shut down in Ohio.